skycruiser said:
Everything you say is true. The problem is Americans are not willing to subsidize service to medium and small cities. The Southwests and JetBlue's are cherry pickers that don't give a rat's pettudy about a transportation "system" but only providing service to markets that are high density and can make a lot of money quickly. The problem comes in that they have established a mindset in the American public as to the cost of flying.
What I'd like to see is small and medium cities get their air service stopped, or if served at all, pay the full cost, plus profit of providing that service. These customers would really be in for a shock then.
RJ's that service some of those cities are very high cost operations. Many of these RJ outfits appear to be making profits, but in reality they are subsidized by the mainline companies under "fee for departure" schemes where they are paid a set fee that guarantees them a profit whether or not the airplane is empty or full. Further they don't pay for a lot of the support functions of ticketing etc.
If the American public wants it cheap, then a lot of places are not going to get air service, or if they do, it's going to be infrequent and VERY expensive. If they want a transportation system of JetBlew's, then that's what they'll get.
The legacy carriers by their models are wed to the hub and spoke systems and seem to be unwilling or unable to change. I think most are hoping for fuel to come down to reasonable levels, which is isn't going to do. Ticket prices HAVE to go up and they will eventually . . . . . . but the weakling companies with bad management like US Air, UAL, Independence, and ATA need to be allowed to implode on their own accord rather than prop them up with court ordered contract abrogations, endless chapter 11 episodes, and government loans. I know this is harsh, but the American economy, despite the apparent stock market rise, is in deep deep and fundamental trouble. I can see foresee several scenarios where using extrodinary measure to prop up terribly managed companies will only continue to destroy the rest of the reasonably well-managed companies. Why should US Airways get serial attempts at reorganization and jipping creditors when it's apparent to the most casual observer that it's management is fundamentally flawed and feable.
